


Ghost in your house/Ghost in your arms

by Dooiney_Oie



Series: Taako Catches Feelings For A Hot Ghost: The AU [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: .....................Enjoy?, And just. Just so much fluff, Just an unconscionable amount of fluff, M/M, Nothing explicit just...... steamy implied ghost fucking I GUESS, This is like 50 percent fluff 25 percent shenanigans and 25 percent actual sexytimes, Well. I sure did write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-03-05 12:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18828886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dooiney_Oie/pseuds/Dooiney_Oie
Summary: "Hey,Would it be alright if I stayed?I'm just a ghost out of his grave,And I can't make love in my grave..."Interlude chapter for An Echo, An Answer - takes place between chapters 32 and 33.





	Ghost in your house/Ghost in your arms

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is the bonus chapter! If you're here not having read the rest of the fic, you might want to check out the first 32 chapters of An Echo, An Answer first - I've done my best to make it readable out of context, but I think things will make a lot more sense that way, and you also won't get spoilered for the main fic!
> 
> Title and summary quote are from Ghosting by Mother Mother, aka my theme song for this fic
> 
> Warning for unsafe binding practices here, just bc of the time period Krav is from. If you're going to bind, please bind safely!

 

"Can I tell you something?" Kravitz murmurs against his cheek. 

"Mmn?"

"The moment I laid eyes on you, I thought you were the most beautiful person I'd ever seen."

Taako lifts his head off his boyfriend's shoulder to look at him, not bothering to pause the TV seeing as he'd been half-dozing to Kravitz's fingers in his hair anyway. Kravitz looks back at him and smiles, his frustratingly beautiful eyes honest and open and flawlessy sincere. He's slightly flushed from that confession, and so there's a decent portion of the room visible through his face as he watches him like he's the whole world and several planets besides. Taako can feel an answering blush creeping up the back of his neck and rushing into his cheeks in a hot, tingling high tide.

"You've been watchin' too many romcoms," he snorts, turning away, but Kravitz ducks his head down and noses up to his ear. His lips are frigid against the corner of Taako's jaw, and it sends him shivering despite the cozy blanket-nest he's created around him on the sofa.

"I haven't. That was what I thought, word for word. Utterly breathtaking. Made things very difficult for me."

Taako snickers and turns to meet his lips, smiling into it as he kisses him. "I guess I _am_  irresistible."

"Don't ruin it," Kravitz scolds, half-hearted. Taako just grins and kisses him again, finding himself pleasantly warm and happy in the moment. He's been feeling like that more and more often recently. Leaning into it isn't so bad sometimes.

"I thought you were pretty hot too."

Kravitz smirks at him. "That much was obvious."

"Now who's ruining it?" Taako scoffs as Kravitz laughs quietly against him, face pressed into his hair. "Kinda surprised you'd try to break my face if you liked it that much, honestly."

Kravitz pulls back with his mouth open in offense and a frown on his brow. "Now, I - I di'n't  _really_ \--"

"You smacked me in the nose with a door, my dude. Right in my beautiful goddamn face."

"Well. I thought it was unfair for a criminal to be that handsome," Kravitz sniffs, dropping the ' _h_ ' on ' _handsome_ ' in his bluster. He shifts the arm he has wrapped around Taako's waist so that he can rub his hand over his shoulder, and then turns his face into his hair again with a laugh. "And that maybe if I broke your nose a little it'd make it easier for me not to stare."

Taako huffs a laugh that sends Kravitz's head jostling against his shoulder. "Did it help?"

"No," Kravitz chuckles dryly. "If anythin' the bandage drew more attention to your face."

"Idiot," Taako laughs fondly.

"I just wanted to be able to stop staring at you."

"You're gross."

"Just being honest."

"...What's - what's the deal with that, anyway?" Taako asks warily, straining his eyes to look down at the back of Kravitz's head. "What, uh - why the sudden honesty?"

Kravitz goes quiet. His fingers rub slowly into Taako's shoulder, massaging through his shirt, and he presses his head a little harder against Taako's neck. "...Do I need a reason to say nice things about you?"

Taako squints at him for another moment before giving a shrug of his own and snuggling back into the sofa. "I mean, I _guess_ not," he concedes. "I'm pretty great."

"You are."

"Mmn."

Kravitz continues to idly massage his shoulder and neck as Taako goes back to watching TV, a chill slowly creeping in through his shirt that he can't bring himself to care about just yet. He knows Kravitz well enough by now to know that this is his way of working something over, and that if he gives him a minute he'll probably find out what it is - more likely than not, anyway.

"I suppose I was just... thinking about it," Kravitz says after a few minutes. "And that I never told you. Thought I might as well say it now." He finally lifts his head out of Taako's hair to look at him, eyes solemn. "I still feel the same way, too. Except now I know - now that I've gotten to know you, I feel like your looks are the least of it. You're - you're gorgeous, Taako, but you're also a wonderful person, and I - I'm really thankful you're here. I want you to know that."

If the raging blush Taako starts to feel flaring up just about everywhere isn't the worst of it, the fact that his eyes are turning watery and his throat is going tight might be. He hides his face in Kravitz's shoulder before anything can come of any of those things, choking up even further when Kravitz starts cautiously stroking the top of his head.

But through all of that, he's _smiling_. Grinning like an idiot. He's just so utterly, stupidly happy - more than he ever thought he'd be in this weird old house with his asshole of a dead roommate. Things really did somehow turn out for the best.

Once he's had a minute to compose himself, he clears his throat and turns his head to kiss his boyfriend at his hairline behind his ear. "Y'know what _I'm_ thinkin' about?" he asks quietly as he twists around and pulls back to get a better angle at his face. "How much I wanna make out with my _very_ sweet--" He cuts himself off to mark his point with a firm kiss that Kravitz hums softly, contentedly into. "Very _hot_ boyfriend."

"Think we can arrange that," Kravitz chuckles as Taako digs his knee into the cushions, slings his other leg over both of Kravitz's and settles down straddling his lap, cupping his face in his hands and starting things off with a long, lingering press of lips that has Kravitz reaching up to grab his wrists and squeeze them in appreciation.

Taako knows the look he'd get if he pulled back now - dazed, dazzled, starstruck and awestruck. Stars in his eyes and words on his tongue that he wouldn't manage to put a voice to, so he'd just reciprocate in kind and it'd be _nice_. It'd be _so_ nice. But Taako's not about to break away long enough to let that scenario play out. He _really_ likes kissing Kravitz. He also likes touching him and holding his hand and being held by him, even though it's usually incredibly cold and very often awkward and uncomfortable. He's still found he likes _not_ kissing his boyfriend almost as much as he likes kissing him, to his considerable surprise. He wouldn't really have ever called himself a cuddler before.

But, the kissing is also good.

Even if he is slowly sinking into a field of static.

"Hey," he mumbles against Kravitz's mouth as he feels his ass finally touch down on the sofa cushions. "Hey, babe, your legs."

"Mmn?"

"Your _legs_ , Casper."

Kravitz breaks away with a frown, only seeming to notice when he looks down that Taako no longer has any lap to sit on. "Oh," he says with a huffed laugh as he brings his legs back into view. "Sorry, it's - you're just very distracting."

"Don't I know it," Taako purrs, settling himself in again around Kravitz's reconstructing limbs. He leans forward to get back to business again, sliding his arms under Kravitz's suit jacket and around his waist, but pulls back after barely a few seconds because there's just - there's a _frustrating_ level of fabric going on here. Like, sure, the suit looks fucking _choice as hell_ , but who decided that it needed this many goddamn _layers?_

"Hey, can - can I undo these?" he asks, running his fingers impatiently down Kravitz's tie and waistcoat buttons. "It's - it's cool if you don't want to, but--"

Kravitz cuts him off with a gentle shake of the head and a smile. "It's fine. Undo as much as you like, jus' don't take any of it off." He pauses and looks away slightly, nose wrinkling. "Apart from - leave, uh - y'know. Don't touch the corset."

"Oh - I mean yeah, of course," Taako says, already thumbing pre-emptively at those first  couple of buttons. That would've been a whole different question, as far as he's concerned. "Just - tell me if you want me to stop, okay?"

"I would love for you to not have to stop at all, sweetheart," Kravitz tells him with a small smile. "Trust me."

"Still. Just, uh, say the word."

Still smiling, Kravitz brings up a hand to cup one of his cheeks and leans in to kiss the other, lingering at the high point where his freckles are at their densest before pulling back with a fond crease to his eyes. "I know."

Taako smiles back at him, briefly, but doesn't linger too long on the expression seeing as he's _much_ more interested in unwrapping all these layers like the world's sexiest candlenights present.

Like the world's most _excessively wrapped_ candlenights present.

"Doesn't this - how far fucking down does this _go_?" he mutters in exasperation as he tries and fails to get the final layer of soft cotton undershirt untucked from Kravitz's waistband. Kravitz yelps a little as he yanks at it and stops him with a hand on his wrist before he can try again.

"It - Taako, _don't_ \- what are you _doing_?"

"Trying to get it untucked!" Taako huffs, yanking again and earning himself another yelp.

" _Ah--_ _Taako_ , it doesn't - they're _underclothes_ , they don't _untuck!_ "

" _What?_ " Taako looks back up at Kravitz,  stares at him for a second, and then looks back down at his - well, apparently _not_ a shirt. "Wait, like - it's like a _onesie_?"

"And what the fuck might that be?" Kravitz sighs. Taako tugs on the garment once again, gentler and more experimentally this time.

"Uh - okay, it's got - so it’s got like, legs attached to it? Like - like a full-body thing?"

Kravitz gives an exasperated nod. " _Yeah._ So if you could stop trying to yank it up my arse?"

Taako digs his teeth into his lip, but still doesn’t last very long before bursting out laughing and having to bury his face in Kravitz’s shoulder. "God, you're so _old_. You have old man undies."

"I'm not _old_ ," Kravitz insists, for what might actually be the hundredth time total. "You can’t just _wash_ a suit like this, it makes more sense to jus’ - just wear somethin' like this and wash it instead! Not my fault times've changed."

"You’re wearing a _onesie_ ," Taako wheezes, tears in his eyes. "That is _-_ that’s gotta be the _total opposite_ of sexy."

"I - I feel like you're ridiculing me," Kravitz grumbles. Taako makes a sympathetic noise, slightly undercut by his continuing giggles, and pulls back to look at him as he pats Kravitz's cheek with a hand and rests it there.

"Nah - nah, babe, I - I'm just teasin' you, don't worry. It's cute, honestly."

Kravitz tries to maintain his grumpy facade pretty admirably, but he can't quite resist leaning into the warmth of Taako's hand against his skin and it shows. He drops the pretense pretty quickly in favour of covering Taako's hand with his own as he sighs out, "Well, if you could use words I understand while you're teasing."

Taako gives a snicker, rubbing his thumb over the line of Kravitz's cheekbone. "Okay, well - a onesie is like, PJs that are, uh, they're all one thing. Like this." He moves his hand to pluck at one of the buttons on Kravitz's underclothes, not-so-subtly using it as an excuse to move the fabric aside and get a peek at the tempting expanse of skin underneath at the same time. "And sexy is basically the same thing as hot."

"Oh, well that makes it better," Kravitz scoffs, smiling slightly at Taako's antics despite his tone. "So sorry my undergarments aren't to your taste."

"Does it make it better if I say _you're_ to my taste?" Taako asks with a smirk, bumping their noses against each other as he pushes all those open layers of fabric aside to run his palms over bare skin. Kravitz shivers at the contact - kind of ironically, really, given their respective temperature differences - and snorts a small laugh.

"I'll consider forgiveness." He plants a kiss at the corner of Taako's mouth, moving his own hands to Taako's thighs and kneading circles into the flesh there with his thumbs. "They're very comfortable, I'll have you know."

Taako kisses his nose. "I believe you. They still look dumb."

"You haven't even seen them."

"Don't have to, babe, it's a onesie. I don't think even _I_ could make that look good."

"I think you could manage it," Kravitz says with a teasing grin, and Taako leans back in to catch his mouth with a laugh.

"Oh, _flattery_. What's your endgame here, tryin' to butter me up like that?"

Kravitz pretends to consider that for a moment, humming half in contemplation and half in satisfaction as Taako presses another, deeper kiss to his lips. "Mmn, think I already got what I wanted, actually," he smiles, and though Taako snorts at him he doesn't bother with any more talk as Kravitz slides a hand around the nape of his neck and pulls him back in.

What he _does_ bother with is getting familiar with all this additional skin Kravitz is allowing him to explore - the surprising amount of muscle in his core underneath the surface softness, the rough cut of a scar just above his hip, the diffuse line of dark hair that trails down the centre of his stomach and vanishes under his waistband - things that were hidden before by all those carefully-tailored layers but which Taako is now free to run his hands over, immersing them in that familiar static tingling just like he's wanted to for weeks now. Overall, he's pretty ecstatic about this whole situation.

Pun not intended, but not unappreciated.

His exploration of the new territory isn't without its side effects, though. It doesn't take long at all before Kravitz starts wriggling away from his questing hands and pulls back to avoid snorting into his mouth. "Taako, that's--" he giggles as Taako realises the extent of the power he's currently wielding and begins to take _full_ advantage of it. "That's really sens-- Taako, I swear, I'll - I'll throw you onto the floor, you - stop!"

He grabs Taako's wrists to hold him still and watches him from beneath raised eyebrows, clearly biting back a smile. Taako grins back at him, not an ounce of remorse in the expression because he doesn't feel a single bit to show.

"You regret lettin' me get my hands on you now?"

Kravitz looks at him with a fondness in his eyes that has his heart skipping beats, and lets go of his wrists to link his hands around the small of his back instead. "No, not really. But I will remove you by force if you try to tickle me again."

"No you won't," Taako smirks, leaning in close enough to taste static as he speaks.

"I will," Kravitz shoots back, moving in even closer. Taako can feel him smiling against his lips. "Don't test me."

"You like me too much."

Kravitz goes suddenly still, and slowly sits back again with averted eyes. "...Yeah. I, um. I really do." He unwinds his arms from behind Taako's back and takes his hands instead, runs his thumbs over the backs of them while static chases his touch. "You're a really amazing person, Taako. I mean that. I've never met anyone quite like you." He looks up at him, swallows, and quickly looks away again with a rapid flickering that threatens to drop Taako onto the sofa again. "I - I'm glad I got the chance."

Taako tries to form a response, but finds that all he can get out is a slight hitch in breath around the lump that's taken residence in his throat. "You - you're not bad yourself," he manages eventually, voice weak, and Kravitz lets out a soft snort.

"Quite the silver tongue you've got there."

"Smooth as silk, my man, that's Taako," Taako quips shakily, still trying to mask how flustered that little speech had made him. The only unfortunate consequence of that being that Kravitz doesn't have a clue what the fuck he's putting him through when he clasps his hands tighter and  _keeps going_.

"Really, Taako, I - I spent so much of my life trying to fit into places, make myself a person that was - was palatable, I suppose, to - I don't even know to who, really. People who I thought mattered. But you don't - you don't tone yourself down or change yourself for anyone, it's incredible. You're unapologetic. I - I like that very much, about you. I think it's amazing."

Taako swallows, his mouth suddenly bone dry and his eyes far too wet by comparison. His hands are freezing and his face is burning and he _hates_ this, _loves_ this, so much all at once. "Well. Um. You too," he croaks. "You're - you're pretty cool too."

"Thank you," Kravitz chuckles, fond but definitely not taking him seriously. Because of course he wouldn't; he'd just called Taako all sorts of sweet, ridiculous, heartfelt shit and Taako thanked him by telling him he was _pretty cool_. Idiot. Groaning at himself, he lets his head pitch dramatically backwards on his shoulders.

"No, just - fuck, gimme a second, I can do better than that," he sighs, pulling his head back up again. It takes him a second to work up the nerve to look Kravitz in the eye as he does this, but - well, the view does help. And he wants this to be sincere. "I - I mean, you're - you, are - one of, uh - one of the most determined people I've ever met, in my life, and uh - you're super brave, and - and smart as hell, and funny and sweet, and, uh--" It all gets a little too much, for a second, with Kravitz looking at him like he is and everything - like he _is_ everything - so Taako finally breaks eye contact and fiddles with one of the many buttons he has in front of him instead. "I-I mean, I - I think you're amazing too. You're an incredible dude. Should say that more often."

"...Thank you, Taako," Kravitz says softly. Taako doesn't dare look at him to find out whether his expression matches his voice.

"And I mean, you're also super - just like, _so_ fuckin' hot," he continues quickly, shooing that little moment of sincerity firmly on its way. Kravitz starts to laugh, quietly, and Taako is grateful for it because it means he gets to be indignant instead of embarrassed. "I mean it!" he insists, and sits back to gesture to Kravitz's whole _deal_ with some genuine exasperation. "Like _fuck_ , just look at this. This is - is - is _peak_ genetics right here."

"I don't know what that means," Kravitz says, still laughing a little.

"It means we should stop talking so I can give all this some appreciation," Taako informs him, pushing up close and stroking a hand around his waist. Kravitz smiles, but taps a warning finger against the back of his hand.

"No more tickling."

"You're no fun," Taako pouts, but doesn't try to push his luck. He's got more engaging things to be getting on with anyway, like finishing that hands-on tour of Kravitz's torso he'd been in the middle of before getting interrupted. Even if it's only the relatively small area of skin between the bottom of that weird modified-corset deal (Taako still can't look at it without wincing) and the waistband of his pants, it's a whole lot more than Taako's been able to touch until now, and he's planning on making the most of it.

There is also the space above, as well - kissing along each collarbone is definitely fair game, and along the crook of his neck, and after barely a few seconds of that Kravitz gives a soft, appreciative sigh and lets his head fall back against the top of the sofa, baring his throat for Taako to run more kisses along it while his hands come up to cup Taako's jaw, trace his cheekbones and ears. He flickers slightly with each press of lips, small shudders passing between them like sparks - until Taako starts to nip at the skin as well and he huffs a frustrated noise, fingers bunching in his hair hard enough for Taako to break contact and pull back in concern.

"W-- Hey, what's up? You okay?"

"I can't feel it properly," Kravitz sighs, closing his eyes and dropping his hands between them. "Doesn't hurt."

"Do you _want_ it to hurt?" Taako asks, eyebrows lifting. "'Cause like - I mean if you - if that's something you're into we can probably--"

Before Taako can run off to grab the salt, Kravitz is quickly shaking his head, colour and substance rapidly draining from his form as he flushes. "N-- No, I - well, I mean - a _little bit_." He brings up a hand to fuss with his hair, drops it again and fidgets uncomfortably with the hem of his jacket. "It's not - it just - i-it's grounding, is the thing, it's--"

He stops himself with another deep sigh, letting his head drop back to the top of the sofa again as he studies the ceiling. "I - I don't quite feel _real_ , sometimes, I suppose," he murmurs. "Didn't realise quite how much sensation I'm lacking until recently. So, knowing that it should be a little sore and it isn't is - it's frustrating. Makes everything feel too far away."

Taako remains quiet for a moment, thinking that over. He knows roughly what Kravitz's day-to-day feels like - dull, numb, neither cold nor warm, everything desaturated and washed out. He's interacting with the world from the other side of a veil, ultimately. There are limitations.

But, Taako only knows that much because they can share that. And that sharing can go both ways.

"How about this?" he asks, nudging their foreheads together and weathering the rush of raw _feeling_ that bridges the gap between them and sends his head spinning for a moment before settling and then echoing back to him again from Kravitz's side of the loop. Kravitz's breath flushes out of him in a rush - another redundant element of that weird pseudo-muscle-memory that he seems to run on - and he swallows as all that fresh, swirling feeling settles from a bright burst to a steady glow.

"I-- Hah, w-well, it's good, but--"

Taako picks up Kravitz's hands and drags his nails across his own back, and doesn't bother to ask for a verbal response between the spike of excitement from his head and the sharp gasp that jumps from his mouth. The sensation isn't doing anything for Taako, really, but he can feel how much it _is_ doing it for his boyfriend, and that's more than enough incentive for him to let him keep gently grazing his nails along his skin as he brings their mouths together again.

They go on for a fair amount of time like that, breaking the link every so often for a breather when things start to approach overwhelming. After a while, Taako ends up having to shift slightly in Kravitz's lap, getting himself comfortable again and trying to expose some less-chilled sections of flesh to his boyfriend's frigid aura, but it's as he shuffles up against his hips in the process that Kravitz makes a _noise_.

It's barely a noise at all and not even much of anything, really - just a bitten-off grunt that doesn't even last half a second - but it tears right through Taako and sends him shivering, because for a second there it had sounded like it was gonna go a _lot_ further. A lot _louder_.

God, he wants to hear the uncut version of that track.

Honestly, what he _really_ wants is to move this upstairs. He wants to find out whether that static feels as good in certain sensitive areas as he thinks it might. He _wants_ to get this guy sprawled out on a bed and slowly take him apart piece by shuddering piece until a noise like _that_  becomes tame by comparison.

So maybe he's a little pent-up. It's been a minute.

But he'd told himself he'd wait until Kravitz came to him on this, is the thing. And he still intends to, obviously he's not gonna pressure anything or force the issue, it's just... well, the thing about sharing a headspace like this is - well, it's just that: it's _sharing_. It means he can feel how much they _both_ want this to go further, a double dose of warmth demanding to become heat and growing more insistent every minute. And he can feel doubt, insecurity, too, and - _longing_ , so much _want_ directed his way it's heady in his brain, like stepping into a room filled with too much incense. It's damn near intoxicating, and definitely not any less intense than what he's been feeling himself.

So fuck it, he thinks, following in the footsteps of so many great decision-makers before him, and breaks contact just enough to give his dead boyfriend a sultry look.

"Y'know, there's a lot we can do without you completely undressing," he murmurs, running a hand over Kravitz's waist with lidded eyes. A flush of colour tracks the line of his hand, skin solidifying under his touch. "I wonder if I can make you come."

Kravitz blinks at him, a little dazed. Around them, half the room's furniture thunks back down into place from midair. "Come where?"

Taako gives a begrudging laugh and rolls his eyes, but as the seconds tick by and Kravitz just continues to sit there frowning at him, he quickly realises he's not, in fact, being fucked with here. As much as that's kind of the goal. "Oh, you're serious." He shuffles back a little and tries to salvage the smooth approach he'd started off here by by tracing a couple of light circles over Kravitz's hipbones with his thumbs. "Y-- Y'know. Get you off. Think ghosts can do that?"

Again, Kravitz only responds with confusion. "You're the one sat on _me_."

"Jesus." Taako palms a hand over his face and sighs in almost complete disbelief. " _Sex_ , babe, I'm - I'm talking about sex."

" _Oh,_ " Kravitz says loudly, suddenly _very_ clear-eyed. "O-- Okay, sorry, uh - new words, it's-- Sorry."

"N-- Nah, shoulda known better," Taako snickers, more fondly than he might've expected, and Kravitz laughs softly in return. He doesn't actually give an answer, though, so Taako runs his hands lightly along his sides as he nervously bites his lip. "But, uh, what d'you think? Is that... something you wanna do?"

Kravitz opens his mouth, then closes it. Chews his lip for a moment as he considers. Eventually, he asks, "...Are you sure?"

Taako feels a frown coming on, and tilts his head slightly in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I just--" Kravitz looks away and shrugs, and rubs a hand awkwardly against the side of his neck. "I'm pretty damn cold, Taako."

"Is - is that - I mean is that your only hesitation here?" Taako presses, because that  _want_  is still simmering underneath the surface of those words and he definitely hasn't heard anything sounding like a _no_ yet. ""Cause I'm pretty - I'm pretty sure we could work around that. If you wanted. It's not - I mean it's not like a _thing_ , I don't mind if you don't wanna, I just - I'm up for some fun if you are, is what I'm saying."

Kravitz stares at him for a minute or so longer, such a mixed expression on his face it's hard to read. "...You really want to?"

"Babe, I wouldn't've brought it up if I didn't. I'm just - I only care about if _you_ want to. That's ch'boy's only requirement here."

Taako sits quietly, letting Kravitz take his time to think. There's not really any rush, after all. Kravitz chews his lip for another long minute, and then, slowly, says, "I - I don't really know if it would work, but... I suppose it's worth a try."

"Nah - hey, I'm only up for this if you _want_ to," Taako corrects. "Not - not because _I_ want to, or - or 'cause you think we should, it's--" He lets out a short sigh and holds up his hands, as nonchalant as possible. "Look, I'm down, for sure. I just wanna know if that's somethin' _you_ wanna do."

Kravitz bites his lip. Taako lifts an eyebrow at him. After another moment of staring at each other, Kravitz gives a tentative smile and reaches out to take his hands. "I reckon we can - definitely give it a shot," he says, and Taako damn near lets out a yell.

"Krav, for fuck's--" He forces himself to take a breath, grabs his boyfriend by either cheek and holds his face as he asks, hopefully for the final goddamn time, "Kravitz, do you _want_ to have sex with me, yes or fucking no? It's not a big deal either way."

"I - yeah," Kravitz says with a nod, an excitable grin starting to form on his face now. "Yeah, I - I wanna try. If you want to."

Taako drops his head against his chest and laughs through a sigh, incredulous that somebody so smart can be such a _complete_ idiot sometimes. "Fuck, Krav, would I have _asked_ if I didn't want to?"

"I-I suppose not," Kravitz agrees with a nervous half-chuckle, and then leans forward to kiss him quickly before hoisting him into his arms with startling strength and making for the door.

"Wh-- We're, uh, eager, huh?" Taako quips with a cautious laugh, and almost acquaints himself with the floor as the arms holding him up dip into nothingness for a moment before catching him again.

Note to self: no teasing the ghost boyfriend when disappearing limbs could lead to bodily harm.

"W-well, it's-- S'been a - a good long time," Kravitz stammers, still flickering dangerously close to incorporeal. "And I do like you quite a lot."

Smiling, Taako plants a kiss on his jaw before pulling back with a firm pat to the shoulder. "That's mutual, babe. Now let's take this upstairs, 'cause I gotta admit this whole bridal-carry thing you've got going is really doing a lot for ol' Taako right now."

"Helps not having real muscles," Kravitz chuckles, hefting him up a little higher into one arm as he uses the other to open the door into the hallway. The TV and the lights behind them blink off as the ones ahead flicker on. "I don't think I'd be able to lift you otherwise."

"Shh, you're ruining it," Taako whispers, pressing a finger over his mouth.

Much to his disappointment, Kravitz sets him down before they reach the bottom of the stairs and vanishes, leaving Taako standing there in bewilderment and indignation until he catches sight of him sitting on the top step with a sly smirk on his face, waiting. In retaliation, Taako makes sure to take his sweet time making his way up, revelling in the way Kravitz starts to fidget impatiently and immediately stands up to pull him back in when he reaches the landing.

"That'll teach you to let go of me, huh?" Taako grins, leaning teasingly away as Kravitz moves into kiss him.

"I'm not about to risk droppin' you down the stairs," Kravitz huffs back, and whines when Taako ducks out of yet another kiss. "Taako."

"Oh, were you in a hurry?" Taako asks innocently. "Actually, what were we doing again? I forgot during my long, lonely journey up here."

"I was only looking out for your safety," Kravitz pouts. Then he takes a step back, suddenly looking very concerned. "But I mean, if you're actually-- If you've changed your mind, we don't have to--"

That's all he manages to get out before Taako rolls his eyes and jumps him, and then they each have a mouthful of each other again as he starts nudging the two of them back towards the bedroom door. They come to an abrupt stop as Kravitz's back hits the wood, and Taako starts fumbling for the handle, but then a chill encircles his wrist and Kravitz starts to gently push him back away from the door again.

"N-no," he mumbles, breaking away to start leading him by the hand towards the other end of the hallway. "My room, not - not that one."

Briefly, Taako glances back over his shoulder before following Kravitz's lead. Oh. So his room must've been _hers_ , before.

If they're not gonna be in there, though, he needs to sort some things first. "Shit, uh - hang on there a second," he says as they stop at the far end of the hall, outside of the room with the big bay window where Kravitz keeps his record player, and quickly moves in to kiss Kravitz's cheek before dashing back in the other direction.

"T-- Where are you going?" Kravitz shouts after him, sounding confused and bewildered and maybe also a little bit offended.

"I gotta grab some stuff!" Taako yells back, already shoving open the door to his room and going over to the nightstand to pull out a few things from a drawer. It doesn't take him long, and he's back standing in front of Kravitz outside the other bedroom in no time. "Okay, sorry," he grins. "I'm good."

"What is all that?" Kravitz asks, curiously eyeing the small washbag Taako had shoved everything into.

"Just - stuff, y'know?" Taako shrugs, offering it out. Kravitz picks briefly through the contents, occasionally lifting a brow or reading a label, but he only frowns when he pulls out a small, metallic square packet and reads the front with a snort.

"I, uh, don't really think you need to worry about that one," he says, waving it a couple times before going to drop it back into the bag, but Taako catches it out of the air and gives it a wave of his own.

"Well, I mean - first off, I don't really feel like having to do a bunch of laundry after this," he explains, to which Kravitz inclines his head in concession. "And, uh - second, I figured having an extra layer on there might be helpful for, uh. Y'know. Not freezing my dick off."

Kravitz's jaw drops slightly, and then he lifts a hand to cover his mouth as he barks a laugh. "Oh. Right. Fair point."

"Yeah," Taako snickers back, and slips the packet into his pocket and the bag under his arm. Then he reaches up to pull Kravitz's hand down from his mouth, linking their fingers together in the process. "So. Are we good?"

Kravitz nods, smiling very slightly. "Mm-hm."

"You still wanna do this?"

"Yeah."

"Cool," Taako grins, and throws himself at him, pressing them both back against the door until Kravitz finally manages to turn the handle and they both go stumbling inside. Taako kicks the door shut behind them as Kravitz draws the curtains with a flick of his wrist, and they stagger haphazardly across the room together until the backs of Kravitz's legs bump against the bed and he breaks suddenly away, stopping them from moving any further with one hand on Taako's shoulder and another on the mattress behind him.

"Hey, um, just - you've pro'lly, uh - well, I suppose it's something of a given, but - I'm not exactly well-versed in - this," he stumbles out, flickering slightly and avoiding his eyes. Taako blinks at him, his hands still gripping his waist under his clothes as best as he can but no longer pushing forwards.

"Oh. You've never--?"

Kravitz quickly shakes his head, cutting him off. "N-- No, I have, just - it was a very, _very_ long time ago. I was barely old enough to vote." He pauses, nose wrinkling up in a frown as he looks distantly over Taako's shoulder. "Not that I was _allowed_ to vote, but - it was a dangerous game to be playin' in those days, and - I always had problems in that area with things being painful, and then after I - after I left London I didn't really, um... go looking." He shrugs slightly, simultaneously dropping his head and running his thumb around the rim of one of his jacket buttons. "I'm not what you'd call experienced, is my point. Apart from - y'know. Taking care of myself sometimes. Just thought you should know that."

Taako almost wants to laugh at the guy getting so nervous over a little thing like that, but he doesn't. It's nice that he's being honest, and it also means Taako's gonna be doubly sure to make this experience a good one for him. "I'm sure you'll pick it up just fine," he assures, taking the washbag out from under his arm and dropping it to the floor so that he can take both of Kravitz's hands in his and trace his thumbs over his knuckles. "I gotta admit it's been a little while since, uh, since I've worked with this kind of - of toolset, too, so like - don't judge me too hard if I'm a little rusty?"

Kravitz gives him a small smile, some of the tension starting to drain from his shoulders. "I suppose we'll both be learning, then."

"Well, I seem to remember _someone_ telling me he was a _quick study,_ " Taako teases, earning himself a wider smile as he leans in to peck his mouth. 

"With a competent teacher," Kravitz replies with a laugh, and Taako drags him in by his lapels for one more deep kiss before releasing him with a gentle push to send him backwards onto the bed. He doesn't so much fall, though, as float gently downwards, settling with his hair haloed around his face and his chest moving with quick, shallow breaths that Taako might've thought were out of nervousness if not for the fact that his eyes, locked on his, are shining bright with excitement.

He's not the only one, honestly. Taako's pants are already starting to feel more than a little restrictive, so he decides to make a show of it as he shuffles them down to his knees - no point in exposing any more skin to the cold than he has to - and takes a pause to get that condom in place, grinning as the lights overhead start to stutter and Kravitz watches him with rapt attention. The moment he's done, some invisible force picks him up and throws him bodily towards the bed with a yelp, caught in Kravitz's arms and pressed up against him again before he can hit the mattress.

"Asshole," Taako huffs against his mouth, and Kravitz laughs as he pushes upwards to try to flip them over and put Taako's back to the sheets instead, but Taako gently resists the effort. "Hold-- Hey, hold up," he says, "I still gotta--" He sits back slightly onto Kravitz's thighs - which are, at the current moment at least, still holding solid - and rests his hands on Kravitz's waistband. "Okay if I undo these?"

Kravitz nods quickly, either having briefly lost the ability to form words or just not bothering with them. Taako rocks forwards to peck him on the cheek, and then back as he busies himself with undoing his belt and pants button and the _still other_ buttons on his underclothes that had been hiding under his waistband. He's just about to finish undoing the last of them when Kravitz catches his wrist, flickering intermittently.

"Wait."

Pausing, Taako withdraws his hand and turns it to clasp Kravitz's instead. "Sure, bubbeleh. You okay?"

Kravitz nods, but it's stiff and not at all convincing. "I'm just - I'm not ready yet," he explains, scratching his cheek with his free hand.

"Oh. Oh, uh - no, hey, that's - that's cool, we can go back downstairs. No worries," Taako assures, sitting back and removing his hands, but Kravitz loops his arms around his back and tugs him back close again.

"N-- No, I don't mean - not _that_ not ready," he laughs nervously, pressing his palms in a firm line from Taako's shoulderblades down to the backs of his knees. "I - just, um - can we go back to the kissing for a minute?"

Taako smiles, suddenly a lot less worried than before. "Oh, for sure, babe. Definitely doable."

Kravitz gives a breathy laugh and murmurs, "Good. Good, um - great," before leaning forward and meeting his mouth with some new level of enthusiasm Taako hasn't seen from him before now. It's a little feverish, a lot passionate, and all things in between - and yeah, he might be fucking cold as ever, but damn if there isn't fire behind those kisses.

This time, Taako submits to being flipped over and pinned down quite happily - he supposes he has been kind of pushing how things have gone so far. He can stand to let Kravitz take control for a while, or for however long he wants, really. Taako doesn't really mind as long as they're both having fun. He definitely is, despite the fact that the only friction he's been getting so far has been incidental brushes from Kravitz's thighs or hips as they move. He has a feeling if it was much more than that he probably wouldn't last very long anyway.

After a couple of minutes or so, Kravitz breaks away panting, vibrating with excess energy, and tells him, "Okay."

Taako stares up at him in surprise, having almost been expecting that to take longer. But, if Kravitz is at a point where he's forgetting he doesn't have to breathe, he's probably pretty far down the line. "Okay? You sure?"

"Yeah," Kravitz nods, eyes nervous and excited and hungry all at once. "Yeah, I'm - I'm ready now. Just needed a minute."

Taako doesn't need telling another time. He takes his boyfriend by the shoulders and flips his back to the sheets again, straddling his hips as he makes short work of those last couple of buttons and then pauses, moving back up for a few more kisses and giving Kravitz another chance to change his mind again if he wants, which he doesn't. He's definitely not lacking any amount of enthusiasm now that he's had some time to prepare; Taako has a feeling if he wasn't so worried about chilling his skin in the process he'd already have stripped him of his shirt, pants and everything otherwise. As it is, he keeps pulling Taako's shirt halfway up his back before stopping with a huff and pulling it back down again. It's incredibly endearing, and makes Taako's heart swell with something that, rather than let it derail everything they've built up to here, he decides to put to use in motivating himself to completely and utterly wreck this wonderful man he has in front of him.

Briefly, he considers using his mouth, but rules that out pretty quickly for fear of getting his tongue stuck like some kind of local moron dared to lick an icy metal pole in midwinter. Instead, he quests his hand downwards - with a short pause for one last confirmation - until he can get his fingers involved, and though it _is_ a little like getting handsy with a snowbank, the response he gets _definitely_ makes it worth it to keep going.

"F-- _Fuck_ , Taako," Kravitz hisses, breath hitching as he brings a knee up to provide Taako with some much-appreciated friction. "R-rusty my - _ah_ \- my _foot_."

Taako grins against his neck in satisfaction, slowly kissing from there down to just above the trim on the corset binding his chest before moving back up to his mouth. Kravitz fists one hand into his hair, the other following the line of Taako's arm down to wrap his fingers around his wrist as he sighs shakily against his lips. 

So, there's definitely no issue with the audience response. Or with his own; he's extremely happy with the way things are playing out so far.

But... there is one problem, and it becomes more and more apparent the longer they go on. The thing is that the more worked up Kravitz gets, the harder it is for him to hold himself together, and he ends up turning intangible or disappearing entirely the moment things start to really get going. That's not to mention the dangerously erratic flickering of the lights overhead or the various objects that Taako can hear thumping and thunking onto the floor around them, or the crackly stop and start of the record player as it flicks on and off and on again nearby, but all of that's less of a priority to him right now than keeping his boyfriend manifested long enough for Taako to give him a good time.

"C'mon, babe, stay with me here," he murmurs as he feels his hands start to slip again, the body underneath him turning staticky and insubstantial.

"Tr-- _Trying_ ," Kravitz huffs back, clearly starting to get frustrated. Taako can't really blame him, either. He eases off for a second, giving Kravitz a moment to collect himself, and then, as soon he has a solid body back to hold onto, he starts to ramp things up again.

It's the same story as before. Right as his hips start to twitch upwards, Kravitz blinks out once again, and Taako briefly pitches towards the bed before he manages to catch himself on his forearms and push himself back up. A split-second later, Kravitz reappears, and Taako immediately reconnects them and flips them over so that Kravitz is now lying on top of him - which works fine for a few moments, but then Taako crooks his fingers just a little too hard and he vanishes again with a half-moan that turns into a cold gust of air halfway through.

When he reappears a second later, Taako tries again to pick back up where they left off, but Kravitz sits up and out of his reach with a soft sigh, resignation weighing in the slump of his shoulders and the way his eyes stay fixed on his hands, downcast.

"Taako," he says gently, "We both know this isn't working. It's okay."

Despite what he's saying, the disappointment on his face and in his voice hurt Taako to witness. He shakes his head and sits up to start kissing his neck again, squeezing his shoulder as he mumbles into the almost-skin there, "No, it's - you just focus on keepin' yourself together, and we can - can figure somethin' out, don't worry."

"Taako," Kravitz says again, lifting a hand to Taako's chin and tilting it up to make him meet his eyes. He's smiling, but Taako can tell the difference by now between the genuine article and a brave face, and this is definitely the latter. "It's alright. Really."

"Maybe it's alright for _you_ ," Taako huffs, flopping back onto the bed. "Ch'boy was lookin' forward to this."

"I'm not thrilled about it either, trust me," Kravitz says with a distinctly bitter laugh, and Taako winces. Maybe that had been pretty insensitive thing to say on his part.

"Yeah, I - of course, sorry," he mumbles, propping himself back up on his elbows. "I didn't, um - just, kinda got a bit worked up there."

Kravitz nods slightly, meeting his eyes with another wan smile that makes Taako's heart compress in his chest. "Me too. But there's no point in flogging a dead horse, is there?" he jokes, without much feeling. Taako holds his gaze for a minute longer, unsure of what to say - because as much as he wants to salvage this, Kravitz is right. It really isn't working at all. Maybe he'd still be able to finish with Kravitz stuttering in and out like that, but Kravitz probably wouldn't, and that's not really an outcome he's interested in. He can do that on his own time.

"...Guess not," he mumbles, hands going to tug up his pants.

"But," Kravitz adds quickly as cold fingers close around one wrist, holding it gently in place. Taako lifts his head to frown at him, and he chews his lip and smiles slightly - genuine this time. "Well, I - I think I can still give you a hand, hm?"

"No - nope, we're - we're not doin' that, babe, that's not fair," Taako says immediately, but Kravitz squeezes his wrist with such a hopeful look on his face he can't help but stop and listen to him.

"I really don't mind, I swear. I like seeing you happy, Taako, this is - I _want_ to do it."

"Okay - first of all: you're gross and also a sap," Taako says, holding up one finger before joining it with a second one as a frown falls over his face. "And second, _I_ mind. I don't - I don't wanna finish this on my own, Krav, I'd just feel guilty about it the whole time."

"Would you, now?" Kravitz asks, half teasing and half concerned as he watches him with his head cocked and his eyes searching. 

"Yeah," Taako replies, and for once in his life he's completely serious. "'Course I would. I wanna see you enjoy yourself too, babe, not just - just take care of me. I got toys for that, y'know?"

Kravitz frowns. He purses his lips, and nods as he drops his eyes to where he's still holding Taako's wrist - but he doesn't let go, either. "That's... kind of you, Taako, but... there's really no need for you to be guilty," he says after a moment, lifting his gaze again. "I don't want you to feel bad, and you needn't agree to it, but - it really would make me happy to do this for you, at least. And maybe we can figure out something else another day."

Taako sighs internally, because he knows that look in Kravitz's eyes and what it means. Kravitz is, if nothing else, indescribably stubborn. So if he's got the idea in his head, and he thinks he can do it, it'll be hard to steer him off it.

Plus it's... not like it's a _bad_ plan, really. Just not an ideal one. He is kind of still sailing at half-mast, here.

"Are you sure?" he asks, holding the serious face for now because he wants a serious answer, and Kravitz gives a firm nod.

"Yeah," he says, and then lets out a small laugh. "It's not like I don't get anything out of it."

Taako lets his head drop sideways onto his shoulder. He hums. He sucks his teeth and clicks his tongue while Kravitz waits patiently for him to finish.

"...Okay," he says eventually. " _Okay_ , but - I'm gonna do some research for next time, yeah? See if we can't find a way to keep you solid while you're distracted."

"Deal," Kravitz smiles, and finally lets go of his wrist to set his hand on the clothed part of his thigh. "Can I touch you?"

"You _are_ touching me," Taako tells him teasingly, earning himself an eye roll and a frustrated but fond sigh.

"Can I touch your _dick_ , Taako?"

"Not yet," Taako grins, pecking his cheek, and shuffles away so he can lean off the side of the bed and scoop up his washbag. He pulls a small bottle of lube from inside of it and tosses the bag to the bottom of the bed as he offers it out. "Put some of this on your hand first."

"And this does... what?" Kravitz asks, taking the bottle and glancing curiously at the label.

"Just, y'know." Taako shrugs. " _Lubricates_."

Kravitz looks from him back to the bottle again, shrugs, squirts some of the contents into his hand and then tosses the bottle aside.

"Cool," Taako says as he shuffles closer, draping his arms over Kravitz's shoulders and smiling against his mouth, "Ready when you are."

Kravitz nods and takes a breath. He reaches one hand around Taako's back to set it on top of his shoulderblade, kisses him deep, and reaches downwards with the other.

Taako _yelps_.

"S- _shit_ that's cold!" he hisses, fighting the urge to jerk back and away from his boyfriend's frigid fingers with mixed success. "Fuck!"

"Sorry," Kravitz blurts, quickly snatching back his hand with a guilty wince and holding it to his chest instead. "Maybe we _should_ call it a day."

Shaking his head, Taako takes a deep, fortifying breath, grits his teeth, and grabs ahold of his wrist. "No, come - c'mon, you said you wanted to do this, so - we're gonna do it. We're gonna make this fuckin' work," he says, determinedly guiding Kravitz's hand back down, but only ends up yelping louder and jerking away harder - because now it's not just Kravitz's hand that's freezing, but the lube as well. " _Fuck that's so goddamn cold,_ " he whimpers, eyes starting to tear up as he clutches at the back of Kravitz's jacket.

"Sorry!" Kravitz says again, going to touch his shoulder in concern before seeming to decide that his hands are best kept to himself for the moment. "I can't help it, you know that."

"Yeah, I know," Taako groans, pushing himself back to flop down onto the bed. "It's not your fault. Just - give me a minute, I'll think of something."

"You don't have to, Taako," Kravitz assures quietly, but Taako jabs a finger at him.

"I'm _gonna_. Just gimme, like - what the _fuck_ are you doing?"

Kravitz finishes wiping all the lube on his hand into Taako's palm and smiles at him triumphantly. "Trying _my_ idea."

Taako sits up and looks down at his palm, which is now covered in a cold, partially-frozen film of lube, and lets out a sigh. "Sure. Why not."

"Let's just give it a chance," Kravitz tells him, and takes his hand, pressing his slightly sticky palm to the back of Taako's and covering his fingers with his. "See? Just like the piano."

"Oh," Taako says, and looks back up at him with his eyebrows lifting. "Yeah, that might actually work."

It does work relatively well, all things considered; Kravitz's hand wrapped around Taako's own, him setting pace and pressure without having to worry about the temperature. The chill is still shocking, but manageable, and that static is - well, it's - _pretty fuckin' good_ , actually. And maybe Kravitz still ends up flickering out every so often whenever he gets too excited and Taako has to give him - and himself - a hand, but it's enough to get the job done and he can soon feel himself teetering at the edge, almost embarrassingly quickly.

It's still tinged by a little guilt, though. It's not exactly how he'd pictured this going - this had been something he'd wanted to _share_ , not something Kravitz had to help him with. He'd wanted to finish this together.

Wait.

 _Fuck_.  
  
A split-second before hitting his peak, he's struck with an idea, and grabs Kravitz's face and slams their foreheads together with his free hand as he tips over. Affection rapidly flashes into surprise, and then the same heat flaring through his own body comes rushing back to him sharp and bright, shortly followed by the feeling vanishing completely as the skin under his fingers explodes into static with an abruptly cut-off gasp. It's replaced by the sound of shattering glass and a powerful, rippling wave of force as the lights overload, the house shudders violently and Taako is thrown back onto the bed with a gasp of his own, now by himself in the dark.

So. Maybe that hadn't been the brightest idea.

"...Babe?" he calls softly into the darkness, once he's caught his breath a little, "You okay?"

There's no answer, but a distinctly cold breeze brushes over the sweat on his face, and he breathes a small sigh of relief. Okay, good. He hadn't double-killed his ghost boyfriend trying to psychically share his orgasm, always a bonus.

It _was_ good, though. At least, the part before Kravitz exploded and broke everything was. That chain reaction combined with the feedback between them had been... well, ' _mind-blowing_ ' hardly covers it. ' _Fucking incredible_ ' also misses the mark, just about. It's just a shame about - well, everything else.

He takes the opportunity to get himself cleaned up and hit the bathroom, and when he returns to the bedroom by phone-light (his phone had, thankfully, been left unscathed by whatever rampant energy had killed all the lights) there's a faint outline stretched out over the sheets, just the barest suggestion of a shape. He quickly makes his way over and kneels on the bed next to it, hunkered over.

"Hey, you good?" he whispers, rubbing a hand over what he thinks is a shoulder. Kravitz lets out a small, muffled grunt in response, flickering briefly more visible before stuttering out again, and Taako bites his lip. "Shit. My bad, Casper, I didn't really, uh, didn't really give that one the full once-over before doing it. Sorry."

Kravitz shakes his head ever so slightly, almost unnoticeable between the darkness of the room and how faded he is. "No, don't - was clever," he murmurs, eyes barely open but focused on him, at least, "Didn' mean to dis'ppear on you."

"So you're okay?"

It's hard to see, but Taako thinks he catches a small nod. "Yeah. Jus'... tired."

Taako nods to himself, reassuring his own head that Kravitz is fine and giving himself a second to think. Going back over everything in his head in the silence, he can't help but let out a snort at the absurdity of it all. "So, uh... was it good for you?"

A soft laugh makes its way out of Kravitz's mouth, and he gives a sleepy smile. "D'you have to ask?"

Taako glances around the room, at the scattered, broken shards of what used to be light bulbs that he's very lucky he hadn't stepped on in his quest out to the bathroom and the various objects toppled across the floor, and turns back to Kravitz with a cautious smile starting to take hold. "Yeah, uh, probably not. Let's hope I still got some spare bulbs around here, huh?" he teases gently.

But, there's no reply. Taako frowns and squints in closer. "Krav?" 

Again, no response. Kravitz's eyes are closed, and when Taako goes to nudge his shoulder, this time his hand passes right through it.

"Shit," he mutters. He claps his hands in the air above Kravitz's head and waves them through his torso, and all he gets in return is an answering mumble. "Hey, babe, no ghosting out on me after sex, that's cuddle time," he scolds, trying to get enough of a grip on Kravitz to shake him conscious and pretty much failing. "C'mon n'grab a blanket."

Briefly, Kravitz regains a bit of substance, but then his face tenses in exertion and it's gone again in a moment. "Jus' need... few days..." he groans, in the tones of a man who's just finished a marathon and then been told he has to keep running. It's probably a fair request, too, but Taako's finding it kind of hard to be sympathetic. What's he gonna tell Lup if he has a night terror and has to call her over? If _any_ of his friends decide to drop by? That Kravitz isn't available right now because Taako accidentally fucked him into a ghost coma? _Fuck_ that. He'll never hear the end of it. He's sure that wafting his hand in and around Kravitz's face until he wakes up is gonna be the easier path here.

"Hey - _hey_ , c'mon, up and at 'em. I'm not about having you abandoning me for a week," he insists, poking and prodding at him until he finally opens his eyes and focuses on him, however foggily. He lifts one hand to cover Taako's, briefly, but it slips away again in a staticky wave after less than a second.

"Love, I've been awake for... for weeks, and that was... _so_ much energy... I jus' need... just need a bit of rest," he murmurs, eyelids looking even heavier than before. "Just a few days, promise..."

Taako lets out a sigh. Loathe as he is to be left alone, he's not gonna deny the guy some well-earned rest. Fuck knows Kravitz spends enough of his time trying to fill the hours while Taako is sleeping. "Okay," he says, moving his hand to rest in the same space as one of Kravitz's as he leans down to kiss the cold patch of static-filled air where he might normally find a cheek. "I'm holdin' you to that, though. You'd better make it a power nap."

"Mmn. Jus' a nap," Kravitz mumbles, and flickers out entirely. Taako feels a brush of cold, tingling contact on his cheek, and then he's sat in bed alone once again.

Sighing, he goes to turn out the light before remembering that all the bulbs in the room have been turned to glass confetti anyway, and it's his phone that's providing the little light there is. The bathroom lights had been blown out, too. Probably the most expensive almost-sex he's ever had in his life.

Kinda worth it, though.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a kudos or a comment, and maybe check out the rest of the fic if you haven't read it! ^^


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